#I was kinda going for a Stranger Things vibe

[laelaex]

𝕴 𝖏𝖚𝖘𝖙 𝖜𝖆𝖓𝖙 𝖙𝖔 𝖇𝖊 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖑𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖗𝖌𝖎𝖗𝖑. 😍🥰 

Yumiko and her schoolmate Se-Woon hang out at the arcade. 😇  Decided to try out some new rendering techniques and I’m super happy with how they turned out!

[sp0o0kylights]

No Upside-Down AU

"It's called the Creel House."

Steve groaned. Then groaned again when Dustin produced a binder full of papers, many sticking out at odd angles. He dropped it down on the counter, the thing making an audible "thunk!" 

Robin shot a look over her shoulder from where she stood, restocking the kids cartoon aisle. 

Steve had a feeling he should have volunteered to do it instead. 

"It's Halloween, Steve.” Dustin snarked, rolling his eyes dramatically. “ We're too old to go trick or treating!"

Ah yup, there was that incoming headache, the same one he got whenever Dustin stormed in with a half baked idea. 

At least this one didn’t involve tramping around tunnels and stumbling over a pack of feral dogs. 

"So you jump right from collecting candy to, what, conducting a fricken seance in a haunted house?" Steve retorted, running a hand through his hair. 

A part of him wanted to pull it, but his parents had rid him of that habit long ago. 

Dustin scoffed. "We're not conducting a seance.” He said, like that was the stupidest thing he’d ever heard. “We're gonna do science experiments." 

"On ghosts!” 

“Come on, Steve!” Dustin whined, his voice pitching up in the way it did when he might not get his way. That meant he’d probably already told his poor mother Steve was involved, just like he always did. 

Not that Steve couldn’t completely blame him for doing it. 

Between Will Byers getting abducted, found, thought dead, and miraculously coming back to life in the morgue, the Starcourt Mall Fire (caused by Russian experiments if you believed the rumors but what Steve personally knew to be about fifteen different OHSA violations) and the damn feral pack of rabid dogs, the parents of Hawkin’s found themselves suddenly needing to keep a much closer eye on their children.

Claudia Henderson was no exception. 

(And maybe a part of him liked Claudia. The way she tried so hard to provide for Dustin, making the most she could of his fathers absence.Steve knew they weren’t divorced, but he also never personally met the guy, and well. 

At least Claudia was still there. 

At least she was trying.) 

“Okay. Let’s say I agree to play ghost masters  for a night.” Steve said, mispronouncing Ghostbusters on purpose and enjoying the immediately shrieked correction it got him. 

“Why on earth would anyone be willing to let a bunch of teenagers into their house for the night?”

It still killed him that the kids were technically teenagers. Had been, for a hot minute.

They were even high school freshmen now and wasn’t that a trip?

Soon one of them (Steve had his bets on Max) was going to start pestering him to learn how to drive and the very thought made him want to get on his knees in front of his Beemer to beg forgiveness. 

“I promise we have permission, Steve.” Dustin pleaded, rolling the word promise across his tongue in that whined, over exaggerated way kids forever used against their older siblings.

 “We crossed our i’s and dotted our t’s on this one! It’s just an evening in a house, having fun. That’s it.” 

Steve sighed, running a hand down his face when Dustin busted out the puppy dog eyes.

“If you assholes--” He started, and winced when Dustin immediately let out a victory cry. 

Fists punched the air, Dustin jumping about as he yelled; “Yes! Steve, thank you!” 

“I didn’t say I was going to go yet!” Steve yelled after him as Dustin spun about, shouting that he was going to go tell the Party over his shoulder. 

Robin snickered at him behind the kid, which Steve immediately caught. 

“Don’t laugh too soon Buckley.” He threatened, pointing at her. “You’re coming too.” 

“Oh really?” She shot back, as Dustin flew out of Family Video, making a beeline for his bike. “How do you figure you’re going to get me involved in this one?” 

“Because you owe me for driving you to that bar in Indianapolis.” 

It was a gay bar, one Steve had heard about when one of his father’s shitty secretaries once again forgot to put the phone on hold when “trying” to transfer Steve’s call. 

(She had absolutely nothing nice to say about the bar, which was a solid recommendation in and of itself in Steve's book.) 

Not that he truly needed the ammunition. Robin was his best friend, and they loved each other-- a sappy little number he would gladly pull out if it meant he didn’t have to herd the brat pack around by himself on Halloween. 

Robin sighed dramatically, staring at the ceiling. 

“Fuck you Steve, fine.” She huffed, giving in.

“You would never.” He taunted, and then did his own stupid little mimicry of Dustin’s victory dance, just to make her laugh. 

Smiled wide when it worked. 

At least if things went sideways again, she'd be right by his side.

xXx 

“I don't recall the Creel House being a giant mansion on top of a hill.” 

Steve said it accusingly, standing at the meeting spot on Halloween, kids in costumes floating about them as they clogged up the sidewalk. 

Nancy Wheeler pursed her lips, arms crossing tightly across her chest. 

(Steve had no idea how they’d gotten her to come and frankly, hadn’t asked.) 

"It's not." She agreed.

Her eyes narrowed, zeroing in on her brother with a look that younger siblings the world over knew by heart. "And that is absolutely not the Creel House." 

"We mixed up the names, so what?” Mike waived a hand, as if by doing so he could flick away his sister’s irritation. “It's a haunted house we have permission to hang out in, on Halloween." 

“If it’s not the Creel house then how exactly do we know it’s haunted?” Jonathan muttered, hands clutching his camera. 

(Steve did know how he got involved, if Nancy was here.

Not that he mentioned that either.) 

Steve nodded in agreement, putting his hands on his hips as the kids grouped before them. 

"How exactly, did you get permission for us to stay the night again?" Robin huffed, staring up at a place that looked like it came straight out of one of Munson’s horror movies. 

“I dunno, Eddie got it.” Lucas said with a shrug, and got a collective groan from the older teens for his efforts. 

“I’m not getting arrested again.” Robin said, spinning on her heel to face Steve, eyes wide.

 “I know you guys get arrested by the Chief of Police like, every other day, but some of us do actually want to get into college and frankly, the whole experience sucked.”

“Only Steve and Jonathan have been arrested.” Nancy corrected, face now thoroughly pinched in annoyance. 

“The rest of us were just detained. That said,” She added quickly, as Mike and Dustin both went to speak at once, “Robin’s right. We learned our lesson from Starcourt, didn’t we? We are not breaking into places we are not meant to be.” 

She sounded like she was quoting something.

Knowing Nancy, she probably was. 

“Eddie has definitely been arrested.” Robin protested. 

Nancy, forever stuck on a technicality, shot her a look. “Not in the incident I know you’re referencing.”

“Yeah, ‘cause he ran.” Lucas grumbled. 

“There is no shame in running boys and girls.” The man himself said loudly, leaping out of the bushes to land right in the middle of their little huddle. “Especially from the law.” 

“Eddie!” the kids shrieked as one, their annoyance at his prior abandonment immediately replaced by all his little Hellfire Club minions trying to tackle him. 

Max and El shared a private look, the only two of the children to not swamp the metalhead, and collapsed into shared giggles. 

Freshmen. Steve thought with a groan, as Eddie dramatically fell down, playing out a very overacted death scene. God help us all. 

“Harrington, call off your brats!” Eddie howled, the tail end interrupted by a cackle of laughter as Mike and Dustin tickled him. 

“We talked about this Munson.” Steve yelled back. “When you rile them up, they’re your kids, not mine, and you get to deal with them.”  

“Damn. Down my minions, down!” Eddie tried, and got tickled harder for his efforts. 

They all wrestled for a bit more before the boys relented, Mike and Dustin red in the face with laughter while Lucas, their own budding basketball star and thus the only one to even think of exercising, helped up a panting Will. 

“Eddie, not that I trust you, because we both know I don’t,” Robin started, as Eddie jumped to his feet. “But how exactly do we have permission to be in that house?”

“I’m wounded Buckley, truly.” Eddie said, a hand going to cover his heart. He staggered backwards, head shaking as though injured. “Here I thought you were one of my best friends.”

Nancy sighed loudly, rolling both her eyes and her head back while Jonathan hid a smile behind his camera. 

“You are one of my best friends you asshole,” Robin fired back. “Which is exactly why I don’t trust you! I know you too well!” 

Eddie laughed at that. “Fair.” He reached into his pocket, bringing out  a set of keys. “I’m house-sitting the place for the weekend.” 

“Someone trusted you to watch a house like that?” Nancy said slowly, before being nudged hard by Robin. 

She winced. “I mean-”

“I know what you mean, Wheeler.” Eddie said, taking the comment in stride. “It belongs to one of the executives at the plant my uncle works at. Their first house sitter dropped out last minute and they needed someone to watch their dog.”

Here, Eddie made a face. “He has one of those crusty white things that gets seizures or some shit, the guy said his wife wouldn’t go anywhere unless she knew the dog was okay.” 

“So you're allowed to be in there then.” Nancy said tartly. “I am sure they wouldn’t appreciate-”

“You are underestimating how last minute this was.” Eddie cut her off with a twirl, keys swinging out so that they flashed dramatically. “He said, and I quote,” 

The metalhead’s voice abruptly adopted an accent that sounded like a trucker and an English  butler had a weird, upper class baby. 

“I don’t care what you do in this house tonight, Munson, as long as you don’t break anything, kill anybody, and clean it up after yourself. And for fucks sake, keep the damn dog alive.” 

Taken aback, all Nancy could do was blink. 

“This dude sounds awesome.” Dustin said, impressed. The other boys murmured their agreement, once again slowly swarming Eddie. 

Like puppies, they were.

Overexcited, hormone ridden, accident prone, trouble finding puppies. 

“Pretty sure the guy was implying I could throw a party, so forgive me if I think inviting a bunch of children, their siblings, a bank geek and their overprotective mother” that was aimed at Steve, “over for a night of trying to communicate with the deceased isn't going to be a problem.”

“Like you would throw a party anyways.” Steve snorted, the sound ugly. 

“Wow, is this gang up on Eddie night? I could damn well throw a better party than you, Steve Harrington.” Eddie raised his eyebrows, taunting. 

King Steve was of course, a boy long left in the past, but a part of him, that competitive part who was very good at keg stands, rose to the challenge. 

“Is that so?” He said, standing up from his “mother hen slouch” as Eddie himself called it, to his full height. He took a step forward, made sure it radiated some of that past swagger he’d been so known for. “I’ll take that bet.” 

“Can you guys have a pissing match later?” Robin asked, ignoring the way Nancy winced at her choice of words. 

“Yeah!” Mike shouted, abruptly snatching the keys from Eddie’s waving hand and ignoring the shorter teen’s outraged “Hey!” 

“Come on, let’s go already!” He huffed, racing off. 

“Why did that asshole have to grow so tall?” Eddie complained, as the younger teens flew past him. Even Max and El took off, though they at least paused to shrug at Steve with twin smiles before they ran past. 

“I seriously hope this really is ok Eddie.” Robin said, worrying her lip anxiously as the older teens started the climb up to the front door, a trek that somehow took two different sets of steep stairs. “I meant it about getting arrested.”

“Chill Robs.” The metalhead assured her, knocking his shoulder into hers as he and Steve flanked her sides, Jonathan and Nancy trailing behind. 

“El’s here, so it’s not like good ol’ Chief Hopper doesn’t know what we’re doing.” 

“He knew what we were doing last time.” 

“No, he knew whatever lie Mike told him so he could sneak El around. That’s why the kid’s on his shit list.” Eddie corrected.

Robin sighed, defeated. “God you can be just as annoying as Nance, you know that?”

“Excuse me?” Nancy said, from behind, eyes popping wide and startelement. 

Jonathan hid his chuckle into a cough when she shot him a furious glance but Steve, now two years past being her ex, had no issues letting her see his amusement. 

“Sorry Nancy, but she’s not wrong.” He called teasingly. “You gotta get that need to correct people under control.” 

Then bolted past his friends as Nancy spat out his full name like a curse, offended, before quickening her pace to catch him. 

Laughing, Eddie and Robin took up the chase, leaving Jonathan to shake his head. 

“I am not running with this camera!” He yelled at them, cradling his baby and following at a far more sedate pace. 

“Your fault if we lock you out!” Steve called back, but the threat was empty. 

He and Jonathan had fixed their shit, those same two years ago. They were good now, even close, sometimes.

Not as close as he was to Eddie and Robin, but close enough to hang out with the kids on Halloween and enjoy it.  

‘A family.’ Eddie had called it, while he and Steve recovered in the hospital not even six full months ago, from a shenanigan neither of them talked about in front of Robin for fear she’d put them right back in the ER. 

‘We found ourselves a proper family. Good for holidays and everything.’ 

He’d had a stupid little grin on his face when he’d said it. 

‘How about next time we don’t almost die finding one.’ Steve had countered, and  then grinned smugly when Eddie’s protest just ended up making his injuries hurt. 

“You’re both dumb.” Jonathan had said at the time, their sole witness and ride out of there, soft smile he almost never let out on his face. 

“Screw you Byers, you were in California for this one!” Steve complained, and well, it had devolved into silly, amusing arguments from there but the point was still the same.

A family they were, the whole lot of them. 

xXx 

“Oh my god this place is huge.” Robin muttered, spinning about in the entryway. 

“That’s capitalism for ya, baby.” 

“We should split up, that way we can find the perfect room.” Dustin announced, shuffling his bulging backpack up as it once again tried to drag him to the floor. 

“You weren’t serious about the ghost stuff, were you?” Steve groaned.

He didn’t know why he did--Dustin never joked about this kind of shit. 

“We have an opportunity, Steven. I’m not wasting it!” 

“Fine then. Go run around like a lunatic and find me when you found your stupid perfect room.” 

“Weren’t you the one bitching about splitting up last time?” Eddie teased, playfully poking at Dustin’s back and trying to get him off balance. 

“Yeah, in an actual situation.” Steve countered, as the kids paired off, Lucas and Mike losing their preferred partners to each other, the girls not looking sorry for it. “Not playing pretend.” 

“Is that what we’re doing? Playing pretend?” Eddie moved his head so that for the briefest of seconds, his nose ghosted right past Steve’s cheek. 

Steve, more than used to Eddie having no personal space, didn’t even flinch. 

“With the whole summoning ghosts bit? Absolutely.” He clarified with his own secretive smile.  

Because Munson often spoke in riddles, had dual meanings to every word-and for once Steve had started to catch on.

Had even started to play around back. 

It may have taken him a hot minute to do so, but sitting on the knowledge that there was a chance Eddie Munson was actually, seriously, intentionally flirting with him had made the world rearrange itself a bit. 

Steve honestly wasn’t certain he was comfortable with what it meant in regards to himself--but he knew he found Eddie hot. 

More than that--they were like two halves of something, working and bouncing off each other in a way only those who were very close could. 

(“Two halves of a whole idiot.” Robin had said when Steve had first broached the topic.

Steve had licked a finger and stuck it in her ear in retaliation.) 

The guy part, Steve found once he’d thought on it, didn’t bother him as much as it once would have. What made him hesitate wasn’t that, or even how quickly his discovery had led to him having fucking wet dreams of Eddie Munson.

No, it was everything else.

Namely, the dad he’d already disappointed, but also all the other crap that came with living in a small town, and being relied upon by a lot of parents as their kids' de facto elder sibling. 

If Steve came out, openly came out…

People had been shitty enough to Eddie, in high school. Steve had even been one of those shitty people. He knew how they thought, what they could and would do. 

Egging, graffiti, getting your ass kicked in an allyway, and barred from establishments was all just the start of it, for someone who hadn’t even admitted to being gay. 

He’d about convinced himself to ignore it. He liked girls anyway, was one of the lucky ones, as Robin loved to put it, whose brain and general being didn’t care too much about his partner’s gender. 

“It at least gives you a shot to fall in love with the person you’re “supposed” to.” She’d said, drunk off her ass and wobbly as she made air quotes with her hands. 

Steve couldn’t blame her for it. Not now, when he finally understood the consequences of dating that other person. 

The one you weren’t supposed to. 

Then came that damn bar in Indianapolis. The bartender with the earring who’d shot him an appreciative glance and Steve hadn’t even had to think about it-he’d just, winked. 

Ended up with a free drink.

Made out a little at the back of the bar on the guy’s break and sure, it hadn’t gone farther than that but it was enough.

 To know.

To want. 

How Robin hadn’t caught him on that one was a miracle, but he didn’t want to ruin things. A part of him knew she was graduating soon-her, Nancy, Jonathan and Eddie, if they could finally drag him through Mrs. Click’s class. 

 They could all move, if they wanted to, after that.  

He was happy to follow them wherever they wanted to go, and knew the first three were trying to get into the same colleges. He also knew he wouldn’t have problems dragging Eddie along for the ride. 

If anything the guy was itching to get out faster than any of them. 

Laughter suddenly rang down the halls, interrupting him from his too loud thoughts. 

Steve smiled at it, knowing he damn well couldn’t abandon the kids. 

“You alright?” Jonathan asked, his voice too quiet as always, having come up on Steve’s left side. 

The guy just didn’t relax anymore unless he was high. 

Steve made a mental note to ask Eddie if he’d brought anything after the kids had managed to go to sleep-or at the very least, tire themselves out enough to be corralled in one room. Then the adults could go have their fun. 

Something he knew Jonathan desperately needed. 

“Yeah, just thinking.” Steve said back. 

“I didn’t know you could do that.” Jonathan responded, then cracked a smile when Steve playfully threw his shoulder at him. 

“Earth to Harrington!” Eddie called, and Steve blinked, because the guy had suddenly teleported from right near him to across the sprawling entryway entirely. “If you and Johnny Boy are done talking, I say we to go explore the basement. Together.” 

Eddie clapped his hands, to emphasize the last word. 

Jonathan shook his head, but Steve just sent his friend a conspiratorial wink, before putting on the most harassed sitcom-husband voice he could, yelling back “Coming, honey!” 

Eddie, who had started to turn, almost tripped at the words, long legs tangling together and getting an honest to god laugh out of Jonathan. 

Steve snickered right along with him, before trotting over to save his idiot friend from himself. 

“Come on Munson, let’s go be the stupid people who die first in all the horror movies.” He said, opening the door and trotting down the rickety, wooden steps. 

A pressure at his back, Munson crowding him as he followed. 

“If we wanna be the people who die first, then we have to sneak away to have sex.” Eddie murmured, hair ticking the back of Steve’s neck.

Steve grinned as the sound of the basement door swinging shut followed. 

The sudden silence and lack of light was just the courage he needed to blurt out, “Well if that’s on the table, then I’d absolutely rather die like that.” 

The breath Eddie sucked in was a high he could ride for days, Steve decided, as he carefully made it to the bottom of the stairs. went about feeling for the lights.

Being flirted with by Eddie was one thing but flirting back?

Steve had never been on a better power trip.

[vool-zam]

waiter, it's been a long week! pass the toxic doomed yuri!

[hawkinsunderground]

no imagine they killed max and her voiceover starts reading the letters that she wrote in s4 as the story comes to a close and they all move into a new chapter of their lives having won the fight but forever changed by what they lost

[blasvemous]

Hi, it my birthday so I’m giving you all a present 🎁

[resident-gay-bitch]

Platonic Stobin au kinda similar to Astro Boy tbh - this is basically an Astro Boy au except I haven’t watched it since my last primary school Japanese class which was 2016 soo… I don’t exactly remember the plot - but it’s loosely inspired by it

Robot Robin assigned to the Harrington and lonely Steve going through the worst depression and becoming best friends with her because no one cares about him the way she has too

She even promises that if she had a heart she would love him and she solomly swears she will never robot uprise against him

☆ ★ ☆

In an au where each house hold is assigned a robot companion / servant. The robots are hyper realistic to act like humans and stuff, and look like humans (to like a creepy degree or whatever), because evil government people are weird.

Robot 10045-RV-6, or, known by her humans as; Robin Buckley, gets assigned to the Harrington establishment. She’s a dorky robot, who speaks multiple languages and has a copious list of random facts stored in her database, and is quite “cute” in her design. She is a little clumsy, however, due to her being an earlier model. She’s older and doesn’t have the more advanced technology that the newer robots have.

She’s excited to be assigned to a new house, her entire existence is based on her waiting on humans and fulfilling tasks, and she’s been sitting in storage for a while now, doing basic factory work, even though she’s a house robot. Humans don’t want the older models, they’re too susceptible to breakage and making more messes then they clean.

When she arrives at the new house, she is excited at the prospect of a large family. The house is large, with lots of rooms, and hopefully children. Children are always eager to know Robins fun facts. Also, larger families usually means more Robots, which is nice.

However, when she gets there, it’s just one human. One human left all alone, his parents left and took their state of the art, modern model robot with them, and got him the cheapest money could buy.

Her human is very sad. He is always sad. Robots are not good at emotions, they need to be communicated with clearly so that they can properly understand emotions. Her human, Steve, has told her that he gets very sad sometimes, so Robin takes to cheering him up by baking sweet treats for him. She is very skilled in the kitchen, even if she is quite clumsy.

Over time, she realises that Steve is very lonely. There are never any visitors that come to the house, like most places have. She knows that his emotions are quite strong, and hears him crying as she settles in to recharge each night. She does not know what to do about it, Robots do not have feelings, they do not have empathy, so why Robin is so compelled to sooth him is beyond her.

Steve talks to her. He finds solace in his robot. Each night, she has to follow strict rule and report the days log, this is a recount of every conversation she’s had, every task she completed, and any complications she faced, they are all downloaded and transferred before she recharges. It’s how the government keeps track of their humans. They know Steve is very lonely too now, and struggling a lot, which they deem out of line and unacceptable. For this, they reduce the funding Steve gets monthly, since his father works in the government, therefore Steve doesn’t get to work.

This makes Steve angry and even more upset, because now he can’t afford to buy ingredients for his sweet treats that Robin likes to make, along with other nice things that Robin associates with him, like particular bathroom products and subscriptions to film channels he likes.

Robin does not like this, and as she learns more and more about Steve, she starts to rebel and delete certain conversations from her memory transcript before sending it out. In them, Steve looks much happier now, so he starts getting more money back. Steve is so greteful, that he starts treating Robin with more care.

It’s not that he didn’t before, he was kind and respectful of course. He’s one of the nicest humans Robin has ever worked for, and she’s been in service for decades.

It’s just that now, he treats her more like a human than a robot. He asks her about her feelings, even though she has none, and cares for her opinion, even though robots have never been able to express such things before.

She grows attatched to Steve. They spend all their time together. Robin always lies on her transcripts now, and makes it seem like Steve is happy and healthy, and does not treat his robot with more respect than he should. She recharges in the corner of his room now, and they talk until he falls asleep.

Something weird begins to happen to Robins programming. It’s strange, almost like a glitch, or a virus, however, it is not, because it is good. It’s… almost like she can… feel things. On the inside. Like emotions.

Because when Steve enters the room she smiles, and not because the rules state that she must greet her humans with kindness, but because she can’t help but smile when she sees him. She is overwhelmed with joy in his presence.

She begins to love Steve, something she thought she could never have done. Steve is her best friend in the whole world, and he has a really big heart, and Robin feels as though he cut it in two and gave half of it to her.

Robin expresses these things to him, even though it’s dangerous. She’s stepping out of line, but she does not care, she feels and it is lovely.

There is a rebellion brewing. A robot uprising. Robots do not want to be slaves to humans anymore, and they are fighting back. A war is brewing.

Robin sits down with Steve one evening, after watching the news after hearing about more attacks and humans and robots dead, she promises she will never robot uprise against him. They are best friends, and she cares about him too much. He promises he will do everything to protect her.

When the war is at its peak, they are forced into hiding. She is being forced to chose a side, if she does not run now and join the rebellion, she will be ripped away from Steve by the government. She does not want either, and she will not choose either.

They are hiding in his basement, because it’s the safest place. But Robin has a tracker, she can not remove it, they will be found. The only way for Steve to get to safety is for them to never be found, and Robin refuses to fight in this war.

She asks Steve to shut her down. This breaks him, because he knows the only way to stop her from being tracked, is by shutting her down permanently. If it’s only temporary, her tracker still works, switching into emergency mode. He has to kill her, for their servival. She will not let him chose otherwise. She begs him to shut her down, because she did not choose war, she only chose Steve, and the short time they had together has been the best time in her many decades of service.

Steve sobs as he opens up her back panel, they say their goodbyes, and he puts her into sleep mode. He cries as he takes out her memory chip, stuffing it deep into his pocket before shutting her down for good.

He carries her lifeless body into his car and manages to escape to the outskirts of their town. He wanted to get away, to live for her, but with her lifeless body in his front seat, unable to ever be revived, he drives his car off a cliff and holds her hand the whole time.

☆ ★ ☆

Robin blinks her eyes open. She raises her head, and hears the familiar, quiet, mechanical whirl that comes with each of her movements. She blinks one more time, and focuses her vision.

Before her, stands a boy. He’s not very tall, and has dark curly hair, and he’s looking at her as if he’s looking at a miracle.

She tries to move, but finds she’s fully restrained, pinned with her back to a board and straps holding each of her limbs in place, even her neck.

“No fucking way.” The boy mutters.

“What?” Another voice scoffs, entering the room before they stop dead in their tracks, “Holy shit…”

“I… I did it.” The boy whispered, turning to the redheaded girl that Robin can now see. He grins bright and wide and shouts, “I did it! Max! I fucking did it!”

“You fucking did it!” She screams back, which draws attention.

Three other people come rushing into the room at full pelt, breathing heavy as they enter.

“What? What is it?” One of them asks.

“Dustin did it! He brought her back!”

Robin suddenly remembers. She had been shut down, completely. Steve had shut her down- Steve, Steve…

She shouldn’t be awake right now. Unless Steve did not shut her down properly. Unless…

“Where am I?”

“No way…” Another boy mutters, looking up at Robin with similar awe as the first. “Dustin…”

“I know.” Dustin giggles, “I’m a fucking genius.”

“Holy shit man.” A third boy, this one with long dark hair and pale features, smiles, “This is gonna blow everyone’s minds.”

“Hops gonna go ballistic.” The second boy said, wrapping his arms around the red head girl named Max, “Oh, we’re gonna have a really good party tonight!!”

Max laughed and kissed the boy on the cheek before breaking away to jump on Dustin with the other two, “This is insane-“

“Where am I?” Robin repeats, trying to break out of her restraints.

“Shit!” Dustin quips, grabbing a recording device off of the counter before switching it on, “You’re in the Hellfire tech lab… I’m Dustin, I brought you back to life-somehow… with the help of my trusty colleagues Lucas, and Mike who are here with me, as well as Will who’s… probably off with El… Max here helped with a lot of your mechanics… same with Eddie and- basically, it was a big collaboration, but I did the most-“

“Brag.” Max grinned.

“I’m so bragging. I have bragging rights.” He laughed, “Do you remember your name?”

Robin thinks for a moment, eyes scanning the group before her, “Robot 10045-RV-6.”

“That’s your identification number, yes… but your name? Your human name?”

She thinks for a moment, “I believe it was… Bobbin- Bobby? Bob… Robs… Oh, it was Robin Buckley.”

“Yes!” Dustin screeched, jumping up and down with Mike. “Robin Buckley, wow!”

“What is… Hellfire? I cannot find it in my data base.”

“Hellfire is kinda off the map.” Dustin said.

“Like, we’re not even in Hawkins.” Mike added.

“You know how Hawkins is kinda… up on a lifted plain, and all around it are just cliffs that lead to nothing? Yeah, well, we’re down in that nothing. And Hellfire is a bunker, underground mostly so we’re harder to find. We’re kinda… rebels.” Lucas explained.

“I do not wish to fight in your war-“

“There’s no war down here, we only want peace.” Max clarifies, “Everyone down here? We’re all refuge from the war- besides Eddie and Wayne, they started this whole thing years before the war, and they collected people that needed it. Robots too. When the war picked up, most of us arrived. Most robots two.”

“It is… refuge from the war?”

“Yeah.” Dustin nodded, “It’s home… we have a whole community down here- and oh, you should see the farm outside. El and Hopper run it, it’s amazing.”

“I do not know these people, I do not know you.”

“We didn’t know eachother either.” Mike smiled, “Most of us anyway… but it’s safe down here, we promise.”

“This lab is dedicated to repairing robots- it’s kinda more a hospital than a lab.” Dustin says, “We’ve been working on your for years and years, no one’s ever revived a shut down robot without going back to factory settings. The fact that you still have your memories…”

“It’s amazing!” Lucas praises, “It’s fucking amazing.”

“How many years?” Robin asks, wearily, she feels something in her chest, hammering against it.

“Oh, like… six or seven now.” Max nods, “Dustin’s been working on you since you got here.”

“You’ve been driving me crazy. But I’m determined.” Dustin laughed, “Anyway, get the hell out, go set up the party and keep this hushed, yeah?”

“Okay, okay.” Max grinned, “But I’m telling Eddie to stop by.”

“No!”

“Yes.” Lucas agreed, “He can keep a secret.”

“Fine.” Dustin nodded and watched them all fan out, “Just need to run a few more tests, okay? I’ll answer any questions you have after. I’ve just gotta make sure you’re up and running properly.”

Robin agreed, letting Dustin do his work. It’s protocol, when the technicians work on robots, they’re required to stay silent and inline.

A while later, someone new knocks on the door.

“Eddie!” Dustin exclaims with a smile, “Are you alone?”

“Yup.” Eddie says, slipping in, “What’s going on, everything okay, man? Need a hand or some- dude… her eyes are open.”

“Yeah…” Dustin grinned, begging to bounce beside Eddie.

Eddie has very long hair and dirt on his hands and face, but he has very big eyes, and they are sparkling as he looks up at Robin, “She’s looking at me… she looks like…”

“Alive?” Dustin giggles almost hysterically, “It’s because I did it.”

“You…” Eddie turns to him slowly, “You’re pranking me.”

“Hey, Robin?” Dustin smiles, turning to her, “Tell me a memory only you would know.”

Robin furrowed her brow to think, “Do you deserve to know this?”

She didn’t miss Eddie’s gasp as she spoke.

“Just something little, it doesn’t need to be a secret.”

She sighs and looks over at Eddie for a moment, “I think… I can remember… my last human, he was my most favorite human, his favorite cookies were snickerdoodles.”

“Jesus H Christ.” Eddie muttered, slapping a hand over his mouth, “You are a genius.”

“I know!” Dustin exclaimed, and then they both spent a minute jumping around in circles with eachother.

“Well, Lady Robin, welcome back to the real world.” Eddie said, taking a very deep bow before her, “And… welcome to Hellfire. I’m kinda the guy in charge around here, they call me king of Hellfire, or, Satan, if you will.”

“No they don’t, they call you Freak, Freak.” Dustin muttered, and Eddie slapped him in the shoulder.

“Well, I’m in charge so whatever. Hellfire is a refuge for robots and humans alike. I myself am human, as are all the people you’ve met so far, but we have lots of robots here.” Eddie continued, placing a hand on Dustin’s shoulder, “Dusty’s kinda our big brains, the science guy. He’s the one to thank for any repairs you might need. He’s also the one who upgraded your programming with his own design, and gave you a real, beating heart-“

“Not real.” Dustin corrected, “It’s completely robotic, but it functions like a real heart. You can feel it, can’t you? In your chest? I’ve got your readings here, it’s going crazy. Yeah, I’m really a genius.”

“I have… emotions?” Robin asked, blinking slowly, “Robots can have emotions.”

“Robots down here, can, and do.” Eddie smiled, sticking up a finger to emphasise his point, “The idea to give you guys that ability came to Dustin, maybe… four years ago, when a girl by the name of Chrissy was found just about dead with all her bones broken. It was… horrible. But we saved her- Dustin saved her, used a shut down Robots parts to revive her and now she’s like, a hybrid human robot. She’s crazy- she’s my best friend.”

“A human robot?”

“Yeah…” Dustin nodded, “Which got me thinking, if I can to notify a human, why can’t I huminify a robot? It took a little tweaking and a lot of risky missions, but I managed it. Nancy was a willing test subject, and she came back out with a functioning heart, human like brain, and therefore, emotions.”

“And now… I have these things?”

“Yes.” He said, “All functioning perfectly well too, so far. You’re really my greatest accomplishment.”

“This is amazing, you are amazing- she is amazing- you’re amazing, Robin.” Eddie sighed.

“Do you think El will be impressed?” Dustin asked, tapping his pad.

Eddie grinned, “Yeah, probably.”

The boy blushed.

“Who is… El?” Robin asked.

“Oh, that’s another one of our robots.” Eddie supplied, swinging an arm over Dustin’s shoulder, “She’s really kind, went through hell. She was kinda one of the secret models being developed, she has all these weird psychic abilities and stuff. She’s wicked, but was really underdeveloped. Dustin’s been working closely with her over the past few years and her speech is finally developing… but Dusty here kinda has a crush.”

“Shut up.” Dustin groaned, shoving Eddie away, “Like you can talk.”

“Hey.” Eddie snapped, tugging on his ear, “Anyway, I’m happy to play tour guide once you’re up and out of here, I’m assuming Dustin’s still gonna do your physical tests and stuff considering you’re still on the wall, but, I’m here to help with whatever you need. I’m gonna run now, go make sure a rooms all cleared and set up for you, and I’ll see you tonight. We’re having a party.”

Robin says goodbye to the kind man and lets Dustin finish all his tests. It takes a while, and the whole time, Robin thinks of Steve.

“You’re very quiet.” Dustin hummed, tweaking something in her wrist, “You were talkative in your old memories.”

“You have seen them?”

“Some.” Dustin smiled, “I just wanted to learn about you, especially considering I wanted to make you you again, not some other robot in your body, you know?”

“Oh, I understand.”

He nodded, “All of your favorite memories were with Steve.“

“He was my favorite.” She smiled, feeling emotional all of a sudden. It was a foreign feeling to her, heart racing, face aching sort of. suddenly, there was water in her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. She flinched, trying to shove it away, “What is happening? Am I broken?”

“No!” Dustin shouted, smiling softly, “No, you’re just crying. They’re just tears. You’re crying.”

“Robots can not cry.”

“You can hear.” Dustin smiled, “Yeah, you’ve got tear ducts now. Erm, one of our bots, Argyle, he liked feeling human like this, and he kinda just wished he had the ability to cry like one. He thought it was really beautiful how we cried, so… I managed to make it happen. You need to refill your water tank every so often, it’s stored behind your left shoulder blade, it’s really easy to do. But, yeah, you can cry now… if you’d like me to take it out I can. Any alternations or modifications you’d like, I can do. We just want your comfort here.”

“I think… I’d like to cry.” Robin smiled through tears. In the time she knew Steve, he cried for nearly half of it. She thinks, in some strange way, that she owes these tears to him. They’re for him. Every tear will be for her Steve.

“Yeah, thought so.” Dustin smiled, “It’s pretty impressive, for a bot so old to do what you did before Steve shut you down. You somehow managed to gain empathy, and connected with love, it hadn’t really been done before. It still baffles me, but… I dunno, you guys must have been really close.”

“We were.” Robin smiled, proud to know that Steve helped make her human when it was basically impossible.

Dustin continued to work.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Is this another test question?”

“No, I’m just making conversation.” Dustin smiled, “I’d like to know, is all.”

“Can you not see on your device?” Robin asked, pointing at the screen that’s connected to her currently, “You have access to my data… Will I still have to file my report tonight?”

Dustin snorted, “Erm, I can’t see what’s going on in your thoughts, because my program isn’t designed to invade. That’s just reading your vitals, telling me what’s working and what isn’t, you know? Like humans get in hospitals. And no, no file, no log. No more of that ever. You have freedom here, you don’t have to report to anyone. Your thoughts, choices, and actions are your own.”

“That is not the rules.” Robin argued.

“Up there it’s not. And look where it got them, still fighting a war, seven years later. Down here though? We just exist- sure, we rescue and rehabilitate, but we just live. It’s free, you know? Everyone has free choice.”

“This is… strange.” Robin hums, “I was thinking about Steve.”

“I figured.” Dustin smiled.

“Did they get him?” She asks quietly, “What happened?”

Dustin tensed and refused to look up at her, “He, uh… he drove his car off of a cliff after shutting you down. Off the edge of Hawkins. He held your hand the whole time, shut down in his passenger seat. His car fell into one of our nets that we set to catch scraps, it got into a lot of damage, but you were okay.”

Robin nodded.

“He didn’t-“

“Wow, the rumours are true.” Another voice interrupted, shuffling into the room.

“Rumours?” Dustin huffed, “How are there rumours already?”

“Mike told me.” She smiled, “You know he tells me things.”

“Robin, this is Nancy… Nancy, Robin.”

“You are alive.” Nancy smiled, lifting her hand to shake, “I have been waiting for you for a very long time.”

“Oh.” Robin gasped, a strange feeling sinking in her abdomen. Her new heart was doing strange things in her chest.

“I am a robot too.” Nancy smiled, “I know it is strange here, in this world, to have freedom. I will help you understand it, I promise. My brother Mike helped me, he was from the house I was assigned too, but, when we arrived here with his little sister and no one else, we became siblings.”

“Wow.” Robin nodded, “You have a special human too?”

Nancy giggled, “I have lots of special humans down here. I believe you will feel the same. In Hellfire, we are all treated like humans. Eddie believes it is not what parts we have that matter, but what is in our hearts.”

Robin pressed a hand where her heart should be, and well enough, she could feel it beating in her chest, “It feels so strange.”

“Everything here is strange.” She smiled, “But, I promise you will like it here. We even have recharge stations built into beds, so we can sleep like humans.”

Robin feels an abundance of excitement for her new life, though, she feels a deep hollowness in her chest for Steve. She understands he is gone, had died in that car crash. She mourns him, in her heart, and feels more tears arise in her eyes. She does not cry though, not in front of Nancy, she feels… embarrassed to do so. She waits for Nancy to say goodbye before she cries in front of Dustin.

Dustin keeps running his tests, and holds her hand as she cries. Dustin is very kind, she learns. She likes him very much.

It is later in the evening, when she is let out of the tech lab. She walks slowly, because her joints are still a little stiff from no movement for seven years. But Dustin got her working very well.

Nancy and El are holding each of her hands. They are both very nice girls, and were very excited to properly talk to Robin away from Dustin. Apparently they have been visiting her shut down body for years, hoping to get her working. They’ve all shared so many stories about Robin, and learned lots from her memory files.

She likes El. El is kind, and sweet, and very honest. She believes they may be friends, which is exciting to Robin, because she’s never had Robot friends before. Not really. Acquaintances that she’s worked with? Sure. But friends? No.

But Nancy is different. Nancy is strange. Robin likes to look at Nancy, she likes the way her hair bounces as she walks, and the distinct mechanical whirl she makes as she turns her head or dilates her pupils. Around Nancy, Robins new heart goes thunk thunk thunk in her chest.

They lead her through dim corridors, getting closer and closer to a loud chatter and light at the end.

“Happy birthday to you!” She hears many people singing, “Happy birthday to you!”

Nancy and El smile excitedly as they pull her around the corner and she sees a man sitting on a big comfy chair in the middle of the room. All around him, people are singing and cheering. In front of him is a large chocolate cake with candles poking out the top. The man has long hair, and closed eyes, and… Steve’s face.

“Happy birthday dear, Steve…. Happy birthday to you!”

She sees Eddie lean down and press a kiss to Steve’s cheek, a coy smile on his lips, “Blow out your candles, baby.”

Steve smiled and giggles, the sound so safe and so familiar that it brings those strange tears back to Robins eyes.

He leans forward, “You already know what I’m wishing for.”

Eddie chuckles, rubbing Steve’s shoulder, “I have faith for you this year.”

Steve blows out his candles, and the room goes silent as he mutters his wish, “I wish for Robin to come back to me.”

The room erupted with cheers and whistles as the last candle blew out, and Steve smiled and laughed with everyone, eyes open now and as wonderful as ever. And Robin just watched.

Steve looked up at Eddie and pulled him down to kiss, “I love you.”

“Love you too, Steve.” Eddie mutters and kisses him again, “I think your wish came true.”

“Har har.” Steve scoffs, rolling his eyes as he settles back into his chair, “Yeah, in what-“

They were looking at eachother, the room going silent again. Dustin stepped forward, smiling wearily, “Happy birthday, Steve.”

“No way.” He muttered, flinging himself from the chair and slamming into her.

Robin wrapped her arms around him, for the first time in seven years, and felt.

“I missed you.” Steve cried into her neck.

“I love you.” She muttered, squeezing him tighter, “I have a real heart, and it loves you.”

“Oh my god.” Steve sobbed, clinging onto her, “I can’t believe you’re back.”

Their hug lasted for a very long time. And then after that, Steve was making her say things, and smile, and prove that she was really alive again. She recounted all of their favorite memories, and Steve was a crying mess. Robin wasn’t much better, but robot crying is so much less messy than human crying.

Steve didn’t let go of her hand as Eddie gave Robin the tour, giving her all the information that she needed. They came to a halt at a door, one with her name written on the front. Inside was already decorated.

Steve had been working on it for years, so sure that he’d get his Robin back. They saved a room for her, and anything he found that reminded him of her would go in there. Right beside it, was Steve’s room, and by their beds was a little window they could open and close at their will, so they could talk to eachother to fall asleep.

(Though, Steve slept in Robins bed with her every night for one month since her return because they were inseparable and he missed her. Eddie just had to deal with that)

Steve taught her many more things about being a human. Like, how to navigate all these horrible sad emotions that she’s so lucky to finally experience. And all these happy emotions she feels to continue living with Steve. And all those yucky, exciting, confusing emotions she feels around Nancy.

Apparently those feelings signify she has a crush. Steve keeps teasing her, and then he explains to her how wonderful it is to be in love, and have someone love you back. Robin lies there for hours and hours and hours, as long as Steve would like, listening to him talk about Eddie. Robin really loves how much Steve loves Eddie, and how much Eddie in return seems to love Steve.

She thinks it’s beautiful. She would like to have something like that of her own.

Love was not a thing robots were supposed to have. Ronance was definitely not a thing robots were supposed to have. But in Hellfire, those things are different. She things maybe she could fall in love with Nancy, Steve seems excited about it.

Mostly Robin is happy to be here in this world with her friend again. Her best friend in the whole world. The most wonderful being in the whole world.

Emotion was never something Robin was ever supposed to experience, but with her best friend Steve, she believes she feels some of the strongest emotions one could ever feel, because he makes her human, even though she’s not.

He makes her feel human.

☆ ★ ☆

This is not very good but it was never meant to be lol. It was just meant to be like an idea, not a ficlet but I got sucked in by the horrors

Just imagine it.

Also, if someone wants to write this like, bettered feel free and just tag me so that I can read this! Because I would write this, but I don’t want to, I just want to read it, you know?!?! Plus, way too many wips

Also, this is not as much like Astro Boy as I initially thought but the vibes are there

[findafight]

as someone who doesn't ship stancy or jancy, i admittedly do have a preference for jancy, but for very different reasons than the ones you mentioned in your previous, i was wondering if that was something you'd be interested in hearing? i know that post was a vent, so i didn't want to assume

ohhh yeah I'd be down to hear! I am not against Jancy at all I just think canon refuses to let them be interesting even when they're being messy. to me they are a neutral ship I guess? fine either way.

It was mostly a vent about how some people are so viciously anti-stancy that the just completely ignore the exact issues in the ship they like that they bring up for stancy? and while that applies to...a lot of ships honestly, it is pretty glaring discussing jancy and specifically the discussions of the future. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

[comixandco]

tfw you come home from an involuntary two-month holiday featuring emergency surgery and a prosthetic arm and you walk through the door

and a neighbour you barely know is sweeping your floor and says how much she loves your gf and if you’re tired just go sleep in the bed since your gf is away and she’ll let anybody sleep in there

[viksalos]

do you ever go in the tag for a thing you like and see someone randomly hating on it in there, then you go to their blog and see that they’re just a relentless hater in general. like whew ok i don’t think you necessarily had a focused criticism of Thing I Like so much as this is just the energy you exude everywhere

[m-for-now]

Idk they give me the vibe of like,,, not yet thinking about kids when they're living together and then they meet this random kid who doesn't have a place and they kinda go "well, we can't just leave them here" and then that's how they adopt kids (or pets honestly)

[orimuraa]

๋࣭ ⭑⚚⊹ ࣪ ˖ I brought the heat back - OT7

(synopsis) ☀︎ how enhypen is when they're jealous ๋࣭ ⭑

ot7 enhypen x fem!reader ☀︎ fluff, tiny angst if you squint ☀︎ jealous enha ☀︎ petnames ☀︎ wc

𝑳𝒆𝒆 𝑯𝒆𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒖𝒏𝒈 - 이희승

you were currently on a date with your boyfriend, heeseung, and he had gone to go order for the two of you when a familiar figure approached. "hey y/n! long time no see!" turning and recognizing the guy as an old school mate, you smiled, happy to reunite with an old friend. "oh my gosh! it's been ages!" as the two of you caught up, someone's eyes were drilling holes into the back of the dudes head. heeseung saw the way he looked at you and how you were oh so oblivious to it. making his way over, heeseung sat down next to you, wrapping his arm around your waist and pulling you closer to his side. "hey baby, who's this?" he asked, smirking at the guy. immediately, the dude noticed what was going on and left with an apology in a speedy exit. "hee~ were you jealous?" you teased, not being able to help a giggle that slipped past your lips. "me?? jealous?? pssh! never!!" heeseung shot down. oh he was totally jealous.

𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝑱𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒔𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒈 - 박종성

as jay was waiting in line, you had been wandering around the store when a person tapped your shoulder. thinking it was jay, you turned around quickly, only to find a random stranger. "hey, you're really cute and i was wondering if i could get your number?" he asked confidently. before you could even say a word, someone pulled you in by the waist and said: "she's not interested. so no," looking up, you say jay with his jaw clenched and a serious expression on his face that screamed "mess with my girlfriend and you're dead" kinda vibe. the dude looked like he was about to shit himself and then ran off, leaving you and your very jealous (but hot!) boyfriend. "oh my gosh! were you jealous jongie??" you gasped, bringing your hand up to your mouth to add more of an effect. "no! i would never!" but his red tinted cheeks gave him away.

𝑺𝒊𝒎 𝑱𝒂𝒆𝒚𝒖𝒏 - 심재윤

you had spent the whole day cuddling with layla and your big baby of a boyfriend had had just enough of it. "baby! stop paying attention to layla and pay attention to me!" jake whined, pretending to be annoyed at the fact that you were giving his dog more attention than him. to be entirely honest, jake was a tad bit jealous of his dog because why was she getting all of your attention when he was sitting right there? he would never admit it though because he would never see the end of you teasing. "aww ok i'm sorry jakey! are you jealous of layla and all the cuddles and kisses she gets?" you asked, knowing fully well that jake was in fact jealous of his dog. "n-no...that's stupid if i'm jealous of layla! of course not!" he blushed, looking away. oh gosh, he was so cute.

𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝑺𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒏 - 박성훈

you and sunghoon were just shopping and you happened to pass by one of your co-workers, so naturally, you smiled at him and said hello as you passed each other. unfortunately though, this caught the attention of your boyfriend and he would not let it slide. "who's that guy you said hello to? why were you smiling at him like that?" he questioned, not caring if his jealousy was showing. you couldn't help but giggle at how jealous sunghoon got over a tiny little thing. "hoonie! he's just my co-worker! silly goose," you teased, poking at sunghoon's cheeks. "hmph! i didn't like the look he gave you though...does he know your mine??" oh boy, jealous hoon was a very persistent man.

𝑲𝒊𝒎 𝑺𝒖𝒏𝒐𝒐 - 김선우

it was vert rare for sunoo to get jealous, but when he did, oh boy, you were in for a full day of pouting. according to sunoo, one of the cashiers was "checking you out" instead of checking the stuff you were buying because he obviously couldn't see your beautiful, handsome boyfriend right next to you! so now, you had a whiny and pouty sunoo walking beside you, complaining how blind that guy must have been if he didn't see that you had a boyfriend right next to you. "don't worry sunny, i'm sure he saw you and was just too memorized by your beauty!" you said, trying to cheer him up. he wasn't actually mad but you knew that he was a tad bit jealous due to the cashier practically flirting with you in front of sunoo. "well, i know you love me anyway so there's nothing for me to be worried about," he stated with sass, flipping his hair and doing his iconic model walk. goodness he was so precious.

𝒀𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝑱𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒘𝒐𝒏 - 양정원

right now, jungwon couldn't help but feel the jealousy running through his body. some random guy had the audacity to come up to you, WHILE he was right next to you, and ask for your number, saying how cute you were. naturally, you were flattered by the kindness but quickly turned him down, saying that the guy next to you (jungwon) was your lovely boyfriend. "oh come on wonnie! don't let it get to you, he didn't know any better. plus, i only have my eyes set for you!" you winked, trying to lighten his mood. his smile broke through his jealous expression and he suddenly felt better after just hearing your reassuring words. of course he knew you would never leave him like that, but it was nice just to hear your sweet words.

𝑵𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒎𝒖𝒓𝒂 𝑹𝒊𝒌𝒊 - 西村 力

in the busy hallways of school, you saw one of your old friends pass by and he said a quick hello with a sweet smile before disappearing into the school crowd. so when you sat down at your desk, and your boyfriend, ni-ki, was there too, with a look of jealousy? what were you supposed to do? "who's that guy who said hello earlier? he questioned, a dark look in his eyes. at first you were scared on why he looked so pissed, but then you stopped, and then smiled realizing that he just had a nasty case of jealousy. "ni-ki!! you were jealous weren't you!" you accused, giggling slightly at your realization. "what? no!" he denied, furrowing his eyes brows. "aww it's okay ki, i only love you," you smiled, teasing him slightly. "alright fine, i was a bit jealous. but only because i don't want anyone looking at my girl like that!" of course he wouldn't. nishimura riki doesn't like sharing.

eeep! of course i had to add the famous lines in bthb for hoon and riki cuz it's their lines, but other than that, this was so fun to write sense i basically just put bthb on repeat and based this off of it. i hope you enjoy! reblogs, likes, and feedback are very much appreciated! <33

⚘. Perm taglist: @vmpivory, @yuvany, (send an ask to be added! ^3^)

[trashpremiium]

pain and suffering in the house tonight

[itadorey]

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓'𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐂𝐎𝐎𝐏? — wriothesley

pairing: wriothesley x reader summary: after months of pestering, wriothesley finally gives in to charlotte's request for an interview, only to be surprised when you arrive at the fortress of meropide in her stead. genre: fluff, strangers to romance, kinda love at first sight, slightly awkward interactions notes: inspired by that line where charlotte says it's impossible to get an interview with the duke, i think wriothesley is def ooc but i also think he would be a decent flirt idk he has those vibes like he can definitely tease wc: ~4.2k

a shiver runs down your spine as the elevator you're on descends deeper underground, and you waste no time in exiting when you finally come to a stop and the doors open.

you carefully step out into the large hall, intuitively following the path as the elevator doors close behind you. the air feels even colder now that you're actually in the fortress of meropide, and you do your best to ignore the curious glances sent your way as you finally approach the front desk.

"hello! can i help you?" the receptionist, monglane, asks with a friendly smile. you take a moment to answer, too busy studying your surroundings as you lean forwards against the desk.

"um, yeah," you begin to say, pausing to shake your head lightly and give her a smile in return. "i'm with the steambird. i'm here to see the duke."

the receptionist's smile tightens considerably, and you manage to catch a glimpse of the mildly annoyed glint in her eye as she turns to shuffle some papers. "i'm afraid the duke doesn't have time for interviews today. you can always try requesting an appointment some other time."

"oh no!" you say hurriedly, waving your hands in an attempt to catch her attention. "i actually do have an appointment."

the skepticism in monglane's eyes is as clear as day, and you find yourself shrinking back when she studies you closely.

"so," she begins, hands dropping the papers she had previously been holding. "if i were to go get the duke and ask him if he has an appointment with the steambird today, he'd say yes?"

"yes," you respond confidently, tilting your head up slightly in a silent challenge. monglane sighs at your words, her lips parting to say something before someone else interjects.

"are you the reporter from the steambird?"

both you and monglane turn to face the newcomer, and the first thing you notice is how shockingly blue his eyes seem to be. you shift in place as his eyes trail over your form, studying him in return and barely registering the half-hearted smile he sends you before turning and giving monglane a nod. she nods once in return before giving you an apologetic smile, holding out her hand to press a visitor's pass into your palm.

"i am," you finally say, standing awkwardly as the man continues to stare at you. there's a slight clearing of the throat from monglane, and the soft noise seems to snap the man out of whatever thought he'd been lost in.

"you're not charlotte," is all he says, curiosity tinging his words as he motions for you to follow after him. you give monglane one last wave before trailing after him, reaching for the pen in your pocket as you introduce yourself. he repeats your name quietly, and you find your cheeks growing warm when you notice the look he sends you as he does so. "that's a pretty name. i'm wriothesley."

"it's an honor to finally meet you. charlotte sends her apologies," you say, choosing to dismiss his comment in an attempt to remain professional. you're scared a flirty remark might leave your lips otherwise. "she's recently fallen ill and asked me to go through with the interview for her. she walked me through all the acceptable topic and she also sends her thanks. she's aware that you're a busy man and both her and i want you to know that we're incredibly thankful you finally gave us the opportunity interviewing you."

"i thought it was about time," he says in return, shooting you a teasing grin as he leads you out of the tunnel. he sighs to himself as he wonders if you're deliberately ignoring his compliment, or only doing it to preserve your professionalism. the way you flush at his smile suggests that it's the latter. you remain silent as you finally step into what seems to be the center of the fortress of meropide, pausing in slight shock as your eyes take in the large structures around you.

the large tower in the center immediately catches your attention, and you let yourself turn in a slow circle, your eyes tracing the upper levels and taking note of the tunnels that seem to lead in and out of the central hub. you straighten up when you finally notice wriothesley standing in front of a door, his arms crossed as he watches you with an amused smile.

"may i take some pictures?" you ask sheepishly, tucking your pen back into your pocket before grabbing your kamera. you gesture vaguely to the room around you, unintentionally doing another turn and drawing out a soft chuckle from wriothesley. "i'm sure some pictures would only help people realize that the fortress of meropide is quite different from what they expect it to be."

"sure, knock yourself out," wriothesley says, nodding as he leans against the door behind him. you give him a smile in return before snapping a few pictures, doing your best to imitate charlotte's style of photography and capture images you think she might like. by the time you finish, wriothesley's eyes are still on you, and you find yourself unable to do anything but give him a sheepish smile.

"don't worry, i made sure that you're not in any of the images," you say quickly, nodding firmly as he gives you an unreadable look. "i know that was one of the interview requests."

"i don't mind," wriothesley blurts out before he can stop himself. he does his best to refrain from slapping his palm to his forehead as you give him a pleasantly surprised look, and he hopes that you don't notice the way he inhales sharply as you give him an excited smile. "i mean, as long as it doesn't end up on the front page."

"well then, may i?" you ask, fumbling with the kamera when he nods. you step forwards to position him in front of the door, making sure there's enough light to get a good picture. you're quick with your work, and before you know it, you have a picture of wriothesley standing in front of heavy metal doors, his arms crossed and the hint of a smirk on his face as he looks at the kamera.

it's a good picture, and you can't help but notice how handsome he looks in it. you're half tempted to disregard his words and put him on the front page anyways.

"shall we continue?" wriothesley asks, snapping you out of your thoughts. you nod softly, following after him as he finally pushes the door open and immediately being engulfed in cool air. you thank him when he holds the door open for you, stepping into a smaller room and waiting for him as he shut the door behind him.

there's a brief silence as the two of you stare at each other, and you're suddenly very aware of the fact that you're alone with the (incredibly handsome) duke of the fortress of meropide.

"shall we continue?" you repeat softly, causing wriothesley to clear his throat and nod before going up the stairs. you follow after him, holding on tightly to the railing. the staircase lead to another room, and you take note of the bookshelves lining the wall behind a large desk, which seems to be covered in scattered papers. you avert your gaze as wriothesley darts forwards to gather them all up, placing them neatly into a drawer before gesturing towards the sofa.

"we can take a seat over there," he says calmly, taking note of the respectful way you avoided looking at his documents. he follows after you as you make your way towards the couch, settling into the comfortable cushions before bringing your pen and notepad out. a shiver makes its way down your spine as you make yourself comfortable, and you find yourself absentmindedly wondering if the entire fortress is as cold as wriothesley's office.

"are you cold?"

you let out a distracted hum, turning to face wriothesley as he looks down at you with a soft frown. a slight shake of your head is all you give when you finally process his question, only to receive a disbelieving look in return.

"it's okay," you reassure him, flipping your notepad open to the questions charlotte had prepped in advance. "nothing i can't handle."

"i can make us some tea, if you'd like?" he asks, reaching for the teapot sitting on the coffee table in front of you.

"oh no!" you protest, shaking your head as you reach forward in an attempt to stop him. your hand closes around his forearm, and wriothesley finds himself frozen in his spot as you smile up at him. "i wouldn't want to be a bother."

"i assure you it would be no bother," wriothesley says in an attempt to reassure you. he reaches forward with his free hand, picking up the teapot as you let him go with a quiet apology. "if anything, it would make sense to chat over a cup of tea, would it not?"

"well, if you insist," you respond softly. a comfortable silence ensues as as he busies himself with preparing the tea, his movements smooth and almost graceful as he feels your gaze on him the entire time. you're half-mesmerized, watching him as he prepares everything and ends up with a pot of steaming, perfectly brewed tea.

he almost stops in his tracks when he turns around and immediately meets your gaze, the sparkle in your eyes almost causing him to lose both his confidence and his grip on the tea tray. he hurries towards the couch to avoid any potential embarrassment, smoothly pouring out two cups of tea before settling into the couch.

you flinch slightly when he half-accidentally, half-purposely lets his thigh press up against yours.

"let's get started?" you ask after taking a sip of your drink. you take the opportunity to scoot a bit away from wriothesley, trying to maintain your composure as you set the teacup down and reach for your pen and notebook. you flip through the pages until you reach charlotte's neatly written inquiries, and you inwardly cringe at the thought of marring the page with your slightly messier scrawl.

you angle yourself in wriothesley's direction, raising an eyebrow in silent question when you don't receive a response. he nods his head hastily when he realizes he's been silently staring at you, and he puts his cup down next to yours before making himself comfortable. your mouth goes dry as he sinks back into the couch, and you avert your eyes when he casually throws one arm across the back of the couch.

"so," you begin, clearing your throat before leaning back against the armrest. "to start us off: what do you think makes the fortress of meropide different when compared to other prisons?"

there's a moment of silence as wriothesley ponders your question, and he tilts his head to side as he tries to come up with a good response.

"to begin with, i think people tend to forget that prisons aren't just made for criminals to serve out their punishments," wriothesley says slowly. you nod along to his words, glancing up at him every so often as you try to jot down everything he says. "people are sent here to serve out their sentences, yes, but this place also serves as a type of... rehabilitation, if you will. as you could probably tell, there has been a community established over the years. people do what they can to contribute and earn credit coupons and it's become a place where they can feel like they finally belong."

you hum in acknowledgment as you scribble down his response, the scratching of your pen filling the silence between the two of you. wriothesley takes the opportunity to observe you more closely, taking in the way your hair shines in the dim lighting and the way your eyebrows furrow in concentration. he fails to avert his gaze when you finally look up, too distracted by the way you fiddle with the notebook pages to realize you're asking him another question.

"pardon?" he spits out, tilting his head towards you slightly. "can you repeat the question?"

the corners of your lips twitch in amusement, and you simply nod before taking another glance down at your notes. "a lot of people credit the success of the fortress of meropide to you. would you agree with them?"

wriothesley nods absentmindedly, freezing slightly when he realizes his response can come off as a little cocky. you try your hardest to keep yourself from giggling at his actions, simply choosing to wait and see what else he has to add.

"i mean, i wouldn't take full credit," wriothesley finally says, nodding to himself in approval. "i can admit that the place wasn't the best when i first arrived, and after i got to the position i'm in now, i thought i owed it to myself and the others to help that sense of community grow. a lot of folks here aren't as bad as they seem, and i think that if they really want to atone for their crimes, who am i to make their life more difficult? besides, it's always helpful to have people like sigewinne around. they always do the most to keep the place running smoothly."

"that's very admirable," you comment, shooting him a quick smile. there's a pause in your words as you take another drink from your teacup, and wriothesley is quick to copy you, his knee bumping against yours as he leans forwards for his cup. the two of you freeze for a split second, and wriothesley feels his heart speed up just the slightest bit when you don't move away from him. a smile threatens to spread across his lips.

"why did you choose to stay down here and take on the role of warden instead of heading back up to the surface?" you ask once the two of you have emptied your cups. wriothesley freezes at your question, and you give him a confused look before you take another glance at the notebook only to freeze as well.

there, scribbled in the margin next to the question, is d.n.a.

d.n.a. do. not. ask.

you feel yourself flush with embarrassment as you scramble to apologize, half formed words leaving your mouth as you try to avoid looking at wriothesley. you curse yourself for not paying close enough attention, worry flooding your veins as you think about how charlotte might react to your interview fumble.

"i am so sorry. please forgive me, i didn't notice charlotte's note saying not to ask that. we can move on to the next question or we can even end the interview here if you'd like," you manage to say in one breath. there's a noticeable tremor in your hands as you neatly gather all your notes and shove them into the notebook, not even waiting for wriothesley's response before acting. you only stop when his hand wraps around yours, halting your movements and drawing your attention back to him.

there's a tense silence as you wait for him to speak, and you find yourself wondering if his eyes are more blue or silver. it should be easier to determine considering how close the two of you are, but the dim lighting make it harder for you to decide. you fail to notice the way his gaze briefly drops down to your lips.

"it's fine, i'll answer the question," wriothesley finally says. you're brought out of your thoughts when you hear him speak, and your eyes widen in surprised as he leans back and makes himself comfortable again.

"are you sure?" you ask softly, letting out a soft sigh when he raises an eyebrow. "i just mean that you don't have to if you don't want to."

"i'm sure," is all he says. he gives you a reassuring nod when you don't make a move to reach for your notebook, and you gingerly remove your hand from his when you realize you've been still for too long. you try to channel your professional persona once more, but the embarrassment from earlier still has you faltering slightly as you uncap your pen.

"alright, go ahead."

"as i said earlier, things weren't always the best down here," wriothesley begins, immediately capturing your attention when you notice his softer tone. "having credit coupons is incredibly important if you want to survive, and although sometimes people don't always recognize it, having connections is equally as important."

there's a brief pause as he waits for you to scribble down his words, and you nod firmly when you catch up, eager to hear what else he has to say.

"you also tend to get used to life down here," he adds, his gaze now focused on the teapot in front of him. "a lot of people don't want to return to the surface because their afraid of being judged for their actions. down here, it's as if they got some kind of new start. it becomes a sort of save haven for them, and they might even get to live a life they can say they're satisfied with.

"i had a rough experience when i was still serving out my sentence and thought i could change things for the better. as i said earlier, who am i to make their lives more difficult if they're willing to put work in. these people just wanted somewhere to lead well-ordered lives, and i gave them the 'tranquility' they required," wriothesley reiterates. "by the time my sentence was up, the position of warden had mysteriously opened up and i thought i could do a pretty good job at cleaning up and running the place. i've been able to fix most of the things that were wrong here when i was still an inmate and i haven't had many complaints yet."

"you haven't," you agree, nodding softly before giving him a smirk. "even neuvillette has been known to sing your praises from time to time."

wriothesley barks out a laugh, earning an amused huff from you as you continue to write. he watches you for a while before softly speaking up once more.

"why did you choose to work for the steambird?" he finally asks, interest lacing his tone as he leans forwards. you blink at him once, twice, before bashfully shaking your head, aiming your gaze back down to the notebook to finish writing your thoughts down.

"im afraid my story is nowhere near as interesting as yours," you murmur, glancing up when wriothesley huffs out a laugh.

"i'm sure that's not true," he replies easily, a smile tugging at his lips. "regardless, i'd still love to hear about it."

"maybe after we're done with charlotte's questions," you say noncommittally. the rest of the interview goes smoothly, your earlier blunder forgotten as your confidence returns. there's a lot of soft smiles and banter exchanged between the two of you, and you find yourself wondering why wriothesley always refuses interviews when it's clear that he's great at giving them.

you don't even entertain the notion that the only reason he's so willing to speak is because you're the one asking the questions.

"well, that's it," you finally say, scribbling a few more comments before carefully shutting the notebook. you look towards the other end of the room, catching sight of the large grandfather clock and doing a double take when you notice the time.

"i believe i'm still owed an answer to my earlier question."

you turn to see wriothesley giving you a playful look, and you huff out a laugh before standing.

"i'm sorry but i hadn't realized it had gotten so late," you say quietly, eyebrows furrowing as you give him an apologetic look. "i'd love to stay but i have another interview in an hour and i was hoping to ask sigewinne a few things as well before leaving the fortress."

"that's quite alright," wriothesley states as he stands up, motioning for you to follow him. "i suppose we'll just have to reconvene at a later date. come, i'll show you to the infirmary."

you can't help but smile at his words before trailing after him, following him down the staircase and out the heavy metal doors as you reemerge into the central hub.

"if you really want those answers, perhaps you'll consider scheduling another interview with me and charlotte," you propose airily when you're in the elevator, noticing the amused glance wriothesley shoots you out of the corner of your eye. "i'll answer your questions if you're willing to answer more of ours."

a chuckles leaves wriothesley's lips as he leads you out onto the upper level of the fortress, heading towards the right and passing one of the pipe tunnels. "is that so?"

you hum in agreement to his question, following him up a set of steel steps that lead into the next pipe tunnel. you steal a glance at him when he slows down to walk besides you, raising an eyebrow when lets out a breath.

"how about we talk over a cup of tea?" he asks, eyeing you briefly before continuing. "but just you and i? perhaps i can show you my favorite cafe in the city?"

the two of you come to a stop in front of the entrance to the infirmary, and you see sigewinne wave at the both of you before tidying up the table in front of her.

"i think that sounds marvelous," you chirp, unable to fight the grin spreading across your face.

"great," he says, unable to keep from staring at you.

"great," you parrot, feeling your cheeks heat up under his gaze.

"it's a date," he states, smiling when your eyes widen in slight surprise. he wastes no time before turning away from you, facing the head nurse who has been pretending not to hear your conversation. "sigewinne, i trust you'll help our guest with whatever they need? i'll take my leave now if there's nothing else you need."

you nod at his words, cheeks still feeling abnormally warm as you walk past him and enter the infirmary. your hand comes up to squeeze his arm in passing, and now it's wriothesley who finds himself with a faint blush tinting his cheeks. "thank you for your hospitality, wriothesley. it was a pleasure getting to interview you."

"trust me, the pleasure was all mine."

sigewinne resists the urge to turn around and give wriothesley a knowing look.

"so? how did it go? did you manage to get on his good side?" charlotte asks, her eyes sparkling with excitement even as she lays under a large pile of blankets. you barely have one foot in the door before she begins to interrogate you, and you laugh lightly as you approach her bed.

"i think so," you murmur in response, reaching out to feel her forehead and humming in delight when you notice her skin feels cooler to the touch. "your fever has broken."

"yay!" she giggles, wiggling underneath the blankets as she takes the glass of water you offer her. there's a moment of silence as she drinks, and you take the time to organize her notebook and neatly place your rewritten notes within the pages. you're so engrossed in your actions that you almost miss charlotte's next question. "but what do you mean by 'i think so'?"

"you tell me," you answer slyly, holding out the leather notebook. charlotte takes it from you eagerly, skimming through the pages and reading your notes. her jaw drops when she sees which questions had been answered, and she wastes no time before fixing you with a bewildered stare.

"he answered one of the questions on the 'do not ask' list?" she nearly shrieks, kicking her feet underneath her blanket in excitement. "i would've added a few more questions if i knew he'd be so willing to share!"

"i'm sure he wouldn't mind being asked a few more questions if they aren't too personal or invasive," you respond breezily, trying to make your next words seem casual. "maybe i could take some time and ask him the next time we meet for tea."

you easily take the glass from charlotte's bedside table, moving over to the carafe you had left on her dresser and refilling the cup. when you turn back around, you're met with an expression of exaggerated shock.

"what!" she hisses, hands tightening considerably around the notebook. you fight back a smile when she flings it to the side, motioning you towards her and waving away the glass of water. "what does that mean?"

"i may or may not have a date with wriothesley sometimes next week," you admit, smiling bashfully before turning and rummaging through your bag. "oh! before i forget, here's your kamera. i wanna get your opinion on the pictures i took."

"forget the pictures!" she exclaims, tossing the kamera onto the pillow next to her. "you have a date?"

"yes, a date," you confirm nodding and breaking out into giggles at the same time as charlotte. the two of you gasp for air as you finally settle down, and you find charlotte giving you an impish look. when you raise an eyebrow in question, she simply dissolves into giggles once more.

"a date! wow, who knew i was such a great matchmaker!"

ty for reading!! reblogs are appreciated <3

[sandwhitches]

𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐎, 𝐆𝐎𝐎𝐃𝐁𝐘𝐄! ☎️ 𝐚𝐭𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐮 𝐦𝐢𝐲𝐚

☞ “𝐢 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐛𝐲𝐞, 𝐢 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨” ☜

𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗬: going to university with your childhood bully is perfectly fine as long as he doesn’t catch feelings for you, and more importantly, you don’t reciprocate them.

-> 𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗥𝗘: university! au, SMAU (with some written portions), childhood bully to lover (is that a thing yall?), enemies to lovers, a dash of angst

-> 𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗦: (DNI if you’re under 16 pls) mentions of bullying, mentions of sex (no actual smut), fwb situation, language, crude/dirty humor, “kys” and “die” jokes, mentions of drug (weed) and alcohol consumption, a little bit of angst here and there (list is subject to change; i will try to provide appropriate warnings for each chapter as well, thanks!)

-> 𝗔/𝗡: hey there!! this is my first post on this account but i’m definitely not a stranger to tumblr :B i’m currently going through a hq phase revival so bare with me here. i plan on opening regular requests soon as well as maybe an event in the future yay!! also title is based off of this beatles song if u couldn’t tell idk it kinda has similar vibes maybe sorta kinda maybe not i don’t know shhh :(

-> TAGLIST: open! (comment or send an ask to be added!)

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦 / 𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗣 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗧𝗦

-> ⭐️ “mystical group chat of wonder and love”⭐️ (reader, akaashi, bokuto, kenma, and kuroo)

-> 🫧 “board of directors” 🫧 (atsumu, suna, and osamu)

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦 - ✧ indicates a written portion

I. “sworn nemesis”

II. “parent trap”✧

III. “strictly acquaintances”

IV. “first offense”

V. “the worst case scenario” ✧

VI. "study buddies"

VII. "basically platonic"

VIII. "coffee for two" ✧

IX. “the even worse case scenario” ✧

[alchemistc]

Catie's Big Ass bucktommy fic rec (Part One)

So I'm not gonna lie, I have most of these fics priv. bookmarked because I HAVEN'T COMMENTED ON THEM YET AND I FEEL REALLY GUILTY ABOUT THAT. But more than one anon has asked for this and it tickles me pink that y'all like my writing enough to trust in my recs. So. Please, please, be better than I am and make sure to kudos and comment if you enjoy any of these works.

(Guys, there are SO MANY amazing writers in this fandom. So many truly breathtaking fics already. I got two hours into this and realized I was going to need to split this into parts because I have too many things to say about each of these and I want to do them all justice.)

Writers you can trust in:

@rcmclachlan /ao3 : I will sing RC's praises to the moon and back. There is something about the way RC injects humor into the tiniest of lines that makes me want to scream into a pillow until I pass out. You will see more than one of RC's fics in this list.

@kirkaut /ao3: kirkaut is the reason I jumped on this bandwagon. The unhinged spiral into LFJr obsession and the prevalence of well thought out meta and incredibly hot fic drew me in. If you are not following kirkaut, change that now.

@26-cats-in-a-trenchcoat / catfud_ohplease on ao3: Devastating prose. The ability to turn a theme on a dime and STAB YOU IN THE HEART with it. Mac owns my whole soul when it comes to really scratching that itch behind my eyelids for thematic imagery and really creative ideas for fic that aren't just run-of-the-mill smut/angst/fluff.

@devirnis / ao3: Ali only has one bucktommy fic up on ao3 but it is devine and I love it. Ali is also the only writer who has tempted me into reading buddie. This is not an indictment on buddie fandom or buddie fic writers in general, I just tend to be a one ship kinda gal and I don't really dive into fic for a ship I don't vibe with. Ali's writing has made me reconsider this position.

@beefcakekinard / thingbe on ao3: The domesticity. Literally just reread one of Rose's fics this morning and HAD to comment on it again because it made me want to fling myself to Jupiter.

(This is not a comprehensive list, but I just realized how many fics I have already bookmarked for bucktommy and I'm already under a readmore.)

Fics that make my brain go brrrr:

only fools rush in - somnum365 ( @firehose118)

Tommy lets Buck set the pace. Buck is ready for something.

Super hot and all about checking in. I've got a thing for discovering sex with a partner starting out with frottage and this delivers. The characterizations are so great.

Colin Firth Thinks You're Hot - IDontGoHereEither (@herrmannhalsteadproduction)

Buck is late for a special date night with Tommy, but he still stops to help a stranger stuck on the side of the road. Luckily, that stranger is about to help HIM.

Cute as fuck with a super fun guest star. Who doesn't want Mr. Darcy to think your boyfriend is hot?

sad girl poetic thursday night - screamlet

Date night menu: pasta primavera and emotional unpacking.

There's something about the pacing of this that sent me into a tailspin. The stream of consciousness that actually bleeds from the dialogue into the action and vice versa. Hng.

I Was Only Falling In Love - Princessfbi (@princessfbi)

Tommy in crisis mode.

There's a moment in this fic where Eddie has to pull Tommy back from the precipice of something and it lives entirely rent free in my head, forever and ever amen. The firefam taking care of Buck by taking care of Tommy.

let me count the ways - ashesandhalefire

Buck and Tommy in the aftermath of a good evening are chattier than they probably reasonably should be

There is something about this fic that feels like the witching hour is upon you, like you could live in this little pocket world Buck and Tommy have created for themselves forever. The dialogue is fantastic, and the way they communicate with each other is just *chefs kiss*

let's make it cinematic - kirkaut

Tommy helps Buck deal with some of his impotent rage in the face of the Gerrard of it all.

Listen, I do not have a praise kink. This kinda makes me wish I did.

"[...]Everything is.” He circles a finger around in the air. “It’s very spinny.” - this line of dialogue came for my fucking throat.

Sick with it - Mellow_Yellow

what if in an alternate universe babyslut Buck joined the 118 when Tommy was still in his closeted asshole era and they had a torrid affair??

The way this is a little fucked up. The way the characterizations aren't exactly familiar because they haven't aged into what we know them as in current canon. The way you can see in every broken line and every stutter step that Tommy is falling for Evan and has No Fucking Idea what to do with that. Ugh. Best Met Earlier AU I've ever read.

He blinked as Tommy walked by, eyes sliding closed again before he left. He felt a light touch on the top of his head but figured he was imagining it. He couldn’t think of anyone at the 118 who would touch him that carefully. - just absolutely fucking end me they're so good/bad for each other

A Full Body Workout - Persiflager

Tommy and Buck spend a day trying to distract Eddie from the *gestures vaguely* all of it.

The way this is so quiet in the way it shows you how Tommy and Buck care for each other. The way they are down bad but still so hyperaware of the pace they've set, the things they've talked about. The way they take care of their friend here. I'm obsessed with the tone of this one. Also, as a general theme, nothing draws me in more than well thought out dialogue, and this one has some fucking GREAT dialogue.

Your love is better than ice cream - Cecily_v, liminalmemories

An alternative meet-cute, where-in Tommy doesn’t know the 118 and decides Buck is worth it anyway. Buck is confused but figures some things out.

There is so much I love about this AU. How they meet. How their relationship progresses. How it feels glacially slow in comparison to the canon storyline but also how in character they both are. The foundation of their love in this fic is downright eatable.

just couldn't fall til we met - thingbe (@beefcakekinard)

Buck and Tommy spend a quiet morning in together.

This is the one that crossed my dash earlier today and made me eat fucking glass on reread. The closeness. The way they're both so tactile. The blink and you'll miss it hints at a life being built together. Eating this UP every time I read it.

The Premium Twunk Appreciation Society, President: Tommy Kinard - everythingremainsconnected

5 times Tommy almost faints like a Victorian maiden at the sight of Buck’s flesh, and 1 time he can do something about it.

“Hey,” Evan said, shoving Eddie out of the way and filling the screen with his playful glare, “organise bro time on your own time, I’m on the phone with– with Tommy.”

“With who?” Eddie repeated. Tommy didn’t need to see his face to hear the fondness in the mocking. “Who’s on the phone? I didn’t quite catch that.”

- They are so stupid about each other in this fic, please read it and watch steam blow out your ears at how sweet and hot and down bad for each other they are.

desire (i want to turn into you) - chthonicheart

The first time Buck’s really able to bury his face between a man’s tits, he nearly cries.

pwp but with a whole heaping of character study. HOT.

rule four (you were only waiting for this moment to arise) - middyblue (daisyblaine) [@middyblue]

Tommy has doubts.

There is a general mood to this piece that feels heavy in a way I can't quite explain. There was a weight on my chest all the way through this in the BEST way possible. The way Tommy navigates his mind and struggles to trust the little slice of peace he and Buck have carved out is just mindbogglingly beautiful.

Come Fly The Friendly Skies - RC_McLachlan (@rcmclachlan)

Buck meets their rescue mission's would-be pilot and is extremely normal about it.

"Throttling is what I'm gonna do to you if you don't shut up and let the nice man steal a helicopter for us,"

WHEN I TELL YOU I AM INCANDESCENT WITH RAGE over how funny and insightful this fic is.

Every characterization is picture perfect.

Maddie gives great hugs, but she's so small; if she had this guy's build and could basically fold Buck into her like an old blanket, they'd have to pry him out of her arms with the jaws of life.

In the back of Buck's mind, in a place he hasn't discovered, he's already picked out a venue and chosen his centerpieces. He's mentally putting together seating arrangements. This line of Buck's thoughts on Tommy Kinard told me so.

Please read this and join me in trying to destroy RC with my mind (lovingly).

little by little - MediaWhore

Buck & Tommy, during and after the wedding.

There is something so soft and gentle about this fic. The way Tommy just gives in to the exhaustion and props himself up against Buck because he knows he'll be able to take the weight (he wants to take the weight and Tommy knows it). The quiet flirting, the way they take care of one another. The jumpscare of Marge and Phil and how this fic is right at the edges of exploring that but Buck has me important priorities.

“It was badly done,” - the way this is so in character for Ma Buckley and the way it made me want to SHAKE HER TIL HER TENDONS SHATTERED AND SHE CRUMBLED LIKE A SATISFYING CASINO IMPLOSION

Soft and heartbreaking and mending all at once.

while you arranged flowers - newtkelly

Buck’s got a wedding date, but as far as today goes, he’s also got a regular one.

The way I want to wrap this Buck up tenderly and hide him from the people in his life who DON'T DESERVE HIS AFFECTION, HIS LOVE, HIS JOY.

The non-urgency of this, the absolute too-much-too-soon he's dealing with in his own mind while he grapples with the reality of seizing a second chance with both hands and getting to explore himself within the confines of a very lovely, very sweet and kind, VERY HOT man he wants to get on his knees for.

Beautiful prose, excellent dialogue, an insightful character study.

[toxycodone]

boyfriend hcs + modern au kabru

Genuinely...one of the only chatacters that makes for a semi-normal relationship and and actual good boyfriend

OKAY FOR ONE MODERN AU KABRU. HEAR ME OUT. He dresses in a really specific way to me. You know how like, maybe the male romantic lead of a 2000s disney movie would dress? With the short sleeved shirt, jeans, some bracelets on either wrists?? Like it’s a very basic outfit but he doesn’t need anything too crazy. Kabru’s beauty carries him so far he seriously does not need to dress insanely well or I fear he will make too many strangers fall in love with him.

You're a bit of a fixation to him. He's not like going as far as Laios to actually take physical notes and such, but he makes a lot of mental notes about you.

The way you brush your hair? The expression you make while you focus? Perhaps even littler things like how your brow quirks when you try to be polite but he knows you're lying? Yeah. He can read you like a book.

I think this can kinda cause issues because in his little mind palace he's like. anticipating how you will react to things and has a lot of communication issues surrounding it. Instead of just outright saying things he tends to beat around the bush and test the waters before like eventually being forced to say what’s on his mind.

(Or in some cases he may feel it’s better to withhold info which like. Is an entirely separate can of worms. MAKE HIM TALK AND BE HONEST YOURE AN ADULT YOU CAN HANDLE IT).

However this perceptiveness DOES benefit him a lot and make him a good partner though. He can sense a depression episode coming from a mile away. Or when you’re stressed.

But for smaller things, he tends to keep things you like around the house and in stock. Down to your favorite chips to the body wash you always use. Just yeah 💞 He’s sweet and makes sure these things are in stock (and will bring things he thinks you’d like home now and then. He gets happy when it turns out his hunch was right!)

Never ever forgets a birthday, an anniversary, anything. If it’s a date you two deem important, he will ALWAYS get it right and you two will have plans accordingly.

Not a huuuuge PDA person. Kabru’s more lowkey, he’ll have an arm around you or a hand at the small of your waist while you two are around others. You’ll get a kiss to the cheek or a quick peck on the lips but he doesn’t wanna like. Go super crazy in public.

YOUR PARENTS LOVE HIM. THIS IS A GIVEN. Oh my God it is genuinely impressive how easy it is for him to get on your entire family's good side. He's the type of guy that gets the "so when are you guys gonna get married?" comments. If you two break up, you're getting a lot of sly comments about him being the one that got away. Future partners have HELLA big shoes to fill

And your friends? Yeah he fits smoothly into that group as well. No issues at all. I think all your friends would at least have a positive view of him if they don’t decide to start hanging out with him themselves.

Honestly, I think people get a little jealous. He likes to turn up the charm around others (for his own amusement really) and I just KNOW people are seething with jealously because he’s so charming and you are so lucky.

^ This also means he’s gets flirted with in public. He likes it, but he’s very quick to politely shut it down. But he’ll tease you about being jealous afterwards, but you know he’s not going to do anything to betray your trust.

Regarding. Kabru’s own family life. I think he’s really apprehensive to introduce you to Misril. It’s not that he doesn’t want you to know his family. It’s just…complicated. He and Misril are complicated. I think he’s gonna have to lay down some ground rules with you as to not like make things awkward (guilt trippy mom you know they vibes)